Second Chance 1.11 “Gelassenheit”

And thus our latest postmodern Frankenstein tale comes to a close, with the usual lesson about not playing God being learned anew, but with enough quirks and particular details of storytelling (even amidst the obvious beats of a star-crossed love affair and family full of dysfunctional rebellion) to make the saga of Jimmy Pritchard’s second life a memorable one. Hot on the heels of the multiple in-story revelations last week, we have multiple storyline conclusions in this finale, and while some of them are predictable, a few of them dire, and more of them sad than happy, there were still last minute surprises that stunned.

The key to the rapid pace was, as foreshadowed last week, Alexa. Sparing the viewers the sight of her husband’s self-immolation, this week Alexa had nothing left to lose. We learn the horror that Otto brought her back without even a face, a failed experiment that he discarded, leaving Conner Graff to pick up his leftovers for his own purposes. What no one considered about these transgenic Frankensteins is that enough of the original personality remained that they’d all try to finish their leftover business. So Albert Lin was driven to search for his old homes from decades past, Alexa wished to share her rejuvenation with her aged life partner, and Jimmy (luckiest of all) could finally start solving all the crimes his late career missteps and failing health had left unresolved.

He also (almost inadvertently) healed various rifts with his family members, hard since he looked nothing like the old man they remembered, but rather like an idealized or perfected young stranger. But his son eventually accepted the truth, allowing things to be said that had festered for years, and he tried to do right by his daughter and granddaughter, too.

Gracie was the plot point of this episode, as much as Alexa was its deus ex machina, but her personality did reemerge as she pled for her life with Otto. Alexa gave the two Pritchard men her location (an abandoned military bunker), got them past security and provided Mary with the means to save Pritchard (whose preservative tank was destroyed) by sharing hers. All while being shot (something the tank’s restorative powers could fix, as we’d seen with Jimmy’s injuries already).

The mustache twirling villain was Graff, laying all his cards on the table immediately by disposing of Lin as soon as Otto declared him irrelevant, fighting to keep Gracie from her father, and basically being so desperate for immortality he would say or do anything at all. Add that to being tall, handsome, spoiled and rich, and you’ve got an A #1 creep ready for the takedown.

But did anyone suspect Otto would be the one doing the taking? Otto has what amounts to a moral awakening at the last minute, realizing he should never have done so much to save Mary’s life. Not that he wanted her dead, but that had he not caused so much collateral damage in his quest, she would never have broken their lifelong bond, never fall in love with someone else, and he would never have ended up on a plane with Conner, stealing a detective’s daughter. So using his personal deus ex machina, the Arthur avatar, one last time, he makes sure Gracie is strapped in, takes over the plain, and blows the doors off so that both men are sucked out into the clouds.

Very intense, and if we’re left with a shattered Mary returning to their home country for the funeral, and Alexa and Jimmy sharing her tank in the mansion, the show fits in one last message from the new Otto avatar, a warning that the Frankensteins all seem to end up as violent as Albert, eventually. But that’s just the last shock after the climax of the horror movie, hardly worth any more thought than Amy Irving dreaming about Carrie’s tombstone. The ratings did rise slightly, so maybe it’s not a dangler after all.